TRADING UPDATES: H&T reports strong quarter, notes budget cost impact

(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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H&T Group PLC - Surrey, England based pawnbrokers' chain and jewellery retailer - Reports "robust trading" in the fourth quarter of the year, with strong demand for pawnbroking seen in the last 10 weeks of the year. Capital value of the pawnbroking pledge book grows on-year ahead of management expectations to GBP127 million at December 31, from GBP101 million the year prior. Retail sales meet management expectations for the fourth quarter with improved product margins and the firm notes increased demand for lower-priced, new jewellery items. Foreign currency net revenues also perform in line with management expectations and the firm notes national insurance hike will impact the business to the extent of a GBP2 million increase in employment costs. H&T is however reviewing mitigation options. Chief Executive Chris Gillespie says: "The group delivered a robust performance in the seasonally important fourth quarter."

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Cirata PLC - Jersey-based software solutions provider - Rounds off 2024 with the "strongest bookings quarter" since the second quarter of 2022. Bookings in the final quarter of 2024 total USD3.0 million, improving from USD2.7 million a year prior and USD1.7 million in the third quarter. Says bookings driven by an LDM contract with a top 3 US bank and a renewed partnership with IBM Corp. Annual bookings amount to USD7.1 million for 2024, fading from USD7.2 million for 2023. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Kelly says: "This management team came together to drive value creation for shareholders. Phase 1 in FY23 was a company rescue phase. Phase 2 in FY24 was the recovery phase and with the recent cost reductions, this phase is completed. With FY25, the company is moving into it's growth phase. Q4FY24 brings to a close a year in which we have done much to rearchitect, restabilize and reposition Cirata for more predictable, sustainable growth. The business is improved on almost every metric. We are driving growth in our key Data Integration product on a significantly reduced cost base."

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S4 Capital PLC - London-based advertising firm - Says Chief Financial Officer Mary Basterfiel has decided to step down from her role. Basterfiel has been at S4 for 3 years and has a 12-month notice period. She will continue working in her role and support the search for her successor. Executive Chair Martin Sorrell says: "The board wants to take this opportunity to thank Mary wholeheartedly for her hard work and commitment over the past three years and for her participation in the transition to a new financial leader. Mary has been instrumental in improving our finance team, processes and systems, as well as a collaborative business partner." S4 will publish a 2024 trading statement on January 28 followed by its full-year results on March 24.

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Blencowe Resources PLC - Mineral exploration and development company focused on developing the Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda - Says drilling has now commenced on the phase 7 exploration programme at its Orom-Cross graphite project. The 6,750 metre campaign is to be the last drilling campaign for the completion of the definitive feasibility study. The campaign is designed to substantially increase both resources and reserves for inclusion in the DFS. Executive Chair Cameron Pearce says: "This extensive campaign will be one of the last key components to wrapping up the DFS and we aim to deliver considerably larger resources and reserves to support the higher production levels expected, as well as a longer life of mine. We remain on track to complete the DFS in H1 2025 and we expect to begin reporting drilling results during the current quarter."

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Savannah Resources PLC - European-focused lithium producer - Recommences the second phase of definitive feasibility study drilling at the Barroso lithium project. Says the second phase will include 117 drill holes for approximately 13,000 metres split into around 9,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and approximately 4,000 metres of diamond drilling. Adds that the drilling will cover "resource, metallurgical and geotechnical drilling at the Grandao, Reservatorio and Pinheiro deposits". Chief Executive Emanuel Proenca says: "Following the award of the temporary land access order in December, our technical team began immediate preparation of the ground for the subsequent second phase of DFS-related drilling. With numerous drill pads now constructed, we are delighted to announce that drilling is back underway at the project...It will generate significant news flow over the coming months, which we look forward to sharing with the market."

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By Christopher Ward, Alliance News reporter

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